In this lesson students will learn the history of Lafayette by discussing images and investigating coal mining and farm work. The objective is to allow the students to connect to the history of Lafayette by participating in physical activities that miners and farm workers did that took place between 1900’s-1950’s.

In this lesson students will simulate some of the physical activities immigrants had to do when they came to Colorado. All stations have cue cards that have excerpts straight from the Boulder County Latino History Project website.

In this lesson students will learn about the early (1900-1940) migration patterns of Latinos to Boulder county; then they compare and contrast those patterns to their own family’s migration to the area.

In this lesson students will use primary resources to create a secondary resource using the app iBooks Author. The students will write a chapter formulating a historical argument concerning the deportation of Mexicans during the 1930s that uses primary sources for support. The student narrative will keep the following 3 questions in mind; What does it mean to be an American or U.S. citizen? What is government’s role in a market economy? In what ways does the United States government influence decisions regarding production and distribution of goods?

In this lesson students will look through the lens of different perspectives of Latinos, Anglos, Native Americans, etc. These lessons focus on local Boulder County Latino History and can be integrated with other lessons. Therefore this unit is ongoing throughout the school year. We want students to build empathy and develop cultural sensitivity and awareness for themselves and others in order to build a greater understanding of what took place in this area. Students will describe interactions among people and cultures who have lived and currently live in Colorado. Students will focus on:

Who was living in this area of Colorado and what challenges they faced

Connecting and comparing/contrasting past events and people with today

In this lesson students will get a sense of Industrialization in America in the early 20th century. They will describe similarities and differences between the miners strike in Ludlow Colorado (1914) and the miners strike in Lafayette Colorado (1927). It can also be adapted to the Progressive Era. Students should come away with an understanding of labor, capital, and the emergence of labor unions as forces in American History.
Created By: Michael Codrey, New Vista High School

This unit has two overarching goals: first, for students to learn to use primary sources to make an argument about a particular historical event; second, for students to learn more about the history of their community. Students will work in teams of two to three to create a podcast that serves to inform their classmates about a specific aspect of Latino experience in Boulder County during a particular time period. Beyond providing information, the students will focus on using one specific rhetorical appeal (ethos, logos, pathos) in their podcast in a way that will be recognizable to their audience.

This lesson can be tweaked for different grade levels and contexts. For instance, the teacher may choose to limit the topic choices in order to make connections to a specific novel/unit of study. Upper-level teachers might choose to incorporate additional rhetorical devices into the project. In other cases, teachers may choose to focus on storytelling instead of argument.

Teaching Boulder County Latino History is an extension of the Boulder County Latino History Project. This site provides resources for those interested in teaching Boulder County Latino History. The teaching resources are grounded in the books written by CU Boulder’s Distinguished Professor Marjorie McIntosh.

There are three central components to this site. The Lesson Database provides lessons for K-12 teachers. Each lesson uses primary sources and is grounded in the books by Prof. McIntosh. Beyond the curated lessons teachers are encouraged to explore the Primary Source Sets and access the full text of Prof. McIntosh’s books. The book outlines link lesson plans and primary sources to each chapter. Teachers and students are welcome to download all or parts of the books to support their learning.